Healthcare Benefits
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The Southern Lehigh School District is a member of the Lehigh Valley Health Benefits Consortium, an association of school districts that collectively negotiate health insurance coverage. You can learn more about our various coverage options by exploring the pull-down menus below.
All employees who work ≥30 hrs/ wk are eligible for employer-subsidized health insurance. Such eligible employees can enroll in one or more of the district's healthcare plans during any of the following periods:
- Spring Open Enrollment (May)
- Fall Open Enrollment (October)
- At the time of Hire
- Qualifying Life Event (e.g., Marriage, Birth of Child, etc.)
NOTE: Eligible employees who decline coverage from the Southern Lehigh SD may receive a disenrollment credit of $900/ year, disbursed equally over 24 pay periods. However, to qualify for the disenrollment credit, you must decline all coverage (i.e., medical, prescription, dental, and vision).
Retirement Benefits
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The Southern Lehigh School District is a contributing member of the Public Schools Employees Retirement Systems (PSERS), a governmental, cost-sharing, multiple-employer pension plan for public school employees in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
All employees must contribute to PSERS starting their first day of employment; contributions are automatically deducted via payroll. However, to become eligible for membership in PSERS, an employee must work 500 hours or 80 days (whichever is greater) during a given school/ fiscal year. Employees who do not meet this threshold may be eligible to receive a refund from PSERS for any contributions made via payroll deduction. You can explore PSERS contribution rates by membership class more via the pull-down menu below.
The Southern Lehigh SD offers eligible employees the opportunity to save additional money for retirement through various 403(b) and 457(b) plans. You can learn more about these plan options via the pull-down menu below.
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Medical & Prescription Coverage
Eligible employees can participate in the Highmark Blue Cross (HBC) PPO6 Plan and elect coverage for themselves (single), their spouses (couple), and their families (parent w/child, parent w/children, and family). For the HBC PPO6 Plan Summary, please click HERE.
Furthermore, all eligible employees must contribute a percentage of the premium cost ("premium share"). The specific percentage varies by employee group; prospective and current employees should review their respective compensation plan, which can be found under the Compensation & Benefits tab on the left-hand side for more information. To view premium share costs for FY2024-25, please click HERE.
Note: Beginning FY2024-25, Administrators and Professional employees may be assessed a spousal surcharge fee of $75.00 per month for couple and family plans. Please refer to the SLSD-SLEA Collective Bargaining Agreement (2024-27) for more information regarding the spousal surcharge and if you qualify for a waiver.
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Dental & Vision Coverage
All eligible employees receive complimentary dental and vision coverage from Southern Lehigh SD as part of their benefits package. Dental coverage is provided via United Concordia FLEX and employees can elect coverage for themselves (single), their spouses (couple), and their families (parent w/child, parent w/children, and family). For the United Concordia FLEX Plan Summary, please click HERE.
All eligible employees also receive a $500 vision allowance that can be used over a three (3) year period. For more information, please refer to the pertinent compensation plan or agreement, which can be found under the Compensation & Benefits tab on the left-hand side.
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PSERS [REQUIRED]
Under the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Code, the PSERS pension plan is classified as a 401(a), a government-defined benefit plan. A defined benefit plan means that your retirement benefit is determined by a formula that includes a retirement factor, years of credited service, and the final average salary. New employees can learn more about PSERS by clicking HERE.
BASIC PSERS RETIREMENT FORMULA
Final Average Salary (FAS) x Years of Service x Multiplier (%)
The FAS is determined by finding the average of a member’s highest compensation received during any three (3) school years.
The MULTIPLIER is determined by your membership class. Employees in Class T-C, T-D, and T-F have a multiplier of 2.5% whereas employees in Class T-E have a multiplier of 2.0%.
Since participation in PSERS is mandatory (for eligible employees), employee contributions and benefit calculations are approved by the PSERS Board of Directors and are binding upon both employees as well as employers (i.e., contribution rates are non-negotiable). For FY2024-25, the Employer Contribution Rate (ECR) is 33.9%.
INFORMATION FOR NEW EMPLOYEES
School employees who began their service in public education on or after July 1, 2019 are automatically enrolled in one of the following membership classes. Note you are automatically enrolled in Class T-G and will have 90 days from the start of your employment to change classes.
Class T-G: Comprised of a Defined Benefit (DB) and a Defined Contribution (DC) component with a greater DB retirement annuity. You will have a higher DB contribution rate but a lower DC contribution rate.
Class T-H: Comprised of a Defined Benefit (DB) and a Defined Contribution (DC) component with a greater DC retirement pay. You will have a higher DC contribution rate but a lower DB contribution rate.
Class DC: Only comprised of a Defined Contribution (DC) component and, by extension, a DC retirement pay, Thus, you will only have a DC contribution rate.
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403(b)/ 457(b) Plans [OPTIONAL]
The Southern Lehigh SD also offers two (2) optional retirement programs to supplement your retirement:
Section 403(b) Plan: A 403(b) plan is a tax-sheltered account program that has a higher annual contribution limit than a 457(b) but also allows for catch-up contributions starting at age 50. Note that if you are considering an early withdrawal, 403(b) plans generally impose a 10% early withdrawal penalty if the funds are withdrawn before age 59½ (barring certain exceptional circumstances).
Section 457(b) Plan: A 457(b) plan is a tax-sheltered account program that has a lower annual contribution limit than a 403(b) but allows for higher catch-up contributions in the three years before retirement. Note that if you are considering an early withdrawal, 457(b) plans generally permit penalty-free withdrawals at any age once you have left the employer who offered the plan.
To review Southern Lehigh SD's Section 403(b) and Section 457(b) offerings, please visit the U.S. OMNI & TSACG Compliance Services website by clicking HERE. There, you will find a complete list of Authorized Investment Providers, their contact information, and instructions on completing a Salary Reduction Agreement to fund your selection.
